[Avodah] Binfol oyivkha al tismach?

[Michael Makovi]

> : Well, we see that we definitely sang Shirat haYam. So apparently, we
> : are allowed to sin over mamash enemies.
>
> And yet Pesiqta deR' Kahane tells us to take our lead from the
> mal'akhim, and this is why we do not say full hallel on the
> anniversary of the day. Also a hava amina in the gemara, which is not
> rejected on grounds of the rejoicing being appropriate.

This is precisely why I said what R' Telushkin says on immediate
survivors versus descendants. We most certainly did sing the entire
shirat hayam, and there are no midrashim (to my knowledge) faulting us
for this. Rather, davka the malakhim are faulted. And we today spill
wine at the seder (although it was said this has nothing to do with
sadness) and say half-Hallel.

One factor is that (as R' Micha posted above) we rejoice over the
death of the sin not the sinner, and take joy in the salvation even as
one mourns the fact that the sinner had to pay for this salvation; the
death of a rasha still required the death of one of Hashem's
creatures. Take joy in what's good and mourn what's bad.

But I wonder if, as per R' Telushkin, there may be in fact a
difference between the immediate survivor and the descendants. It
would make sense if the immediate survivor isn't expected to be as
considerate and contemplative and retrospective as the descendant. The
same way that a mourner is expected to fully accept and absorb the
loss only after a period of time, perhaps only after a period of time
can one consider the fact that Hitler for example was a human after
all. Of course, all the same, this would mean that just as a mourner
is praiseworthy if he accepts the loss before he is required to have
done so, so too the immediate survivor of the death of a rasha is
praiseworthy if he already considers that the rasha was a human after
all. And to be honest, while I'll acknowledge in speech that Hitler
was a human, when the time to mourn the Shoah or celebrate his
downfall comes, I'll all but forget this fact.

If so, this would explain why we could sing shirat hayam and yet we
say only half-hallel.

Mikha'el Makovi